Human
by Faolan Fangmetal
Summary: Bellatra Dierdry never set out to run away with her brother. She didn't plan to try human transmutation. She didn't intend to be a monster. It just happened. She just wanted the small-town, quiet, friends-with-all-the-neighbors kind of life. She wanted to be normal, average. She wanted to be like everyone else. She wants to be human.
1. Prologue

"The Freezing Alchemist? He's here?" Colonel Roy Mustang inquired. "We have information that he managed to slip into Central a few days ago. That's why I've summoned you here,Colonel. I need your men to smoke him out, and bring him in."

"Consider it done, sir." Colonel Mustang replied to Führer Bradley.

"One last thing. I'm placing two certain rising young stars of the military at your disposal."

"Forgive me, Führer Bradly. But, just to be clear..?"

"Yes. I mean the Fullmetal and Fangmetal Alchemists."


	2. First Impressions

"There he goes!"

"Don't let him get away!"

"Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

"Heheh.." The Freezing Alchemist picked up speed, activating his transmutation glove while doing so. Bolts of blur lightning danced across the alleyway, sending spike of ice rushing towards his would-be aggressors. One of said ice spikes managed to hit its target, taking a life in the flashing light. He didn't go silently, his death cry echoed throughout the city. Not losing any momentum, Isaac McDougal turned the corner out into the street.

Suddenly two armed soldiers step out from a corner, aiming and ready to fire at McDougal, the said target merely grabbed soldier A's arm, and froze him solid, as an amused smirk crawled across is ICEY features. Soldier B's expression tensed, like he was screaming, but no sound would come out. His attempt at sound was roughly intercepted by a hand smashing into his face. More lightning jumped out of the transmutation circle on the back of his elbow cuff gloves. the sum of a soldier's body and Sizzle of his flesh could be heard in the stillness of this night. "Water freezes, water boils. Either way, you're just as dead."

. . .

'Find McDougal' he said, 'It'll be easy' he said.  
I've been searching for the rogue Alchemist for the past 3 hours. "Damn Colonel.." I continued my roof jumping as a silent cloaked shadow in the night . I barely made a sound, save for the swish of my cloak and heel of my boot.  
"What a nasty thing to do," I heard someone remark stopping dead in my tracks I turned towards the voice . Now voices.  
"You of all people should know great things require great sacrifices. Isn't that the Law of Equivalent Exchange?" I headed west, hopeful to see my target in that direction.  
"Save your breath. The laws of alchemy don't justify murder!"  
This first guy sounded pissed .

Drawing near the voices, my pace slowed to a creep. Yes, that's it..knees bent, one foot directly in front of the other..Just like you learned.. I peeked over the side of this shorter building,, jut to see my target. "What the hell?! Look for three damn hours, just to find him about to duke it out with some other dude!" I mumbled to myself.

I froze. My mouth gaped wide in great but sudden surprise. McDougal was was about to fight none other than-

A midget.

Seriously. Look at the size of this kid! He can't be taller than 4'10". COUNTING THAT FREAKING HAIR ANTENNAE. "I'm bringing you in!" Damn! Why is his voice so husky? And intense! Anyways, where was I? Oh, yes. Shorty dramatically clapped his hands, like I have so many times before, and picked up the spear he had apparently thrown. I inhaled sharply as he transmuted the said object into a spikey metal bat.

"No transmutation circle-!"

"Don't be too impressed!"

Pipsqueak charged at McDougal, as a 7' suit of armour suddenly appeared swinging at said target. The Freezer merely ducked, saving his head.  
The eighth dwarf didn't halt his charge, making Isaac block in an x-armed fashion over his torso. Deciding now was the best time, I made my move. I flipped over the side of the building, preparing to kick with my right, automail leg. The second before my heel smashed contentedly into his face, McDougal rudely dodged my attack while shoving Short-Stuff's bat in the air, as well as evading the Armour's attack simultaneously. He kicked the maybe-knight in the helmet, making him stumble backwards. Wasting no time, Short-stuff swung at him, getting a block in response of course. Only this time, he placed a hand on Midget-Man's right arm, whether to freeze him or boil him like the shrimp he is, we'll never know.

The fun-sized heroine stumbled back, crying out in pain as the glint of his metal arm showed through his shredded sleeve. As once again attempted to bring his arms down on McDougal's head, as the golden-haired runt continued to stumbled back a bit, and then fell into me. "Hell no! You're not bringin me down wth you!" I roughly shoved him forward to a standing position, pulling my arms to in front of my face at the ready.

I silently ran at the Freezing Alchemist, seemingly unnoticed as he continued his fist-to-metal fight with the armor. First after first was thrown, until Isaac swung a high kick, leaving his back wide open.

I pushed forward, ready to strike, trending with anticipation, until-

"WAH!"

To both of our surprise, McDougal flipped him, spamming the bone-crushing weight onto me. That bastard. Despite my desperate blocking off the ribs, I heard the cracks.

They better not be broken.

"I HAD YOU!"

McDougal was furious, he was shaking with rage.

"ANY WATER THERE SHOULD HAVE BOILED!"

Oh. So we WILL know. He tried to boil him like the shrimp he is (as previously mentioned).

"If it's any consolation, you did run my coat."

I have to admit, I WAS thrown off by the deep (some might also say husky-definatly not me) voice coming from the fry.

"You have an AUTOMAIL ARM?!"

No shit.

"A young gifted Alchemist that doesn't use a transmission symbol..an automail right arm.. I know you."

I kicked the armored man off of me-

This wasn't the time for chit-chat.

"YOU'RE THE FULLMETA-"

WHAM.

I kicked him. Right in the face.

As he fell back, I clapped my hands and transmuted the bat Fullmetal dropped earlier into a sword. This earned a gasp from maybe-knight, and my fellow one-armed-wonder. Wasting no time, I swung at the Freezer. If course, most of them missed, and I ended up ditching the sword, but I did manage to land s Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the abdomen. The sent him flying, and he landed on the ground with a rough thud.

He didn't get up.

"So you mean to tell me," I began, turning around, "that this fry is the Fullmetal Alchemist?!"

"FRY?! WHO YOU CALLIN' A BEANSTALK WHO CAN'T EVEN GROW AN INCH-"

Fullmetal's spat was interrupted by my fit of laughter.

"He- He gets angry when you call him short?! That's priceless!"

"PRICELESS? LIKE HOW YOU'RE GONNA LOOK WHEN I RIP OFF YOUR LEGS AND STICK THEM TO YOUR HEAD?!"

I burst out laughing again, shoulders heaving, as he took a step towards me. The one in the armor pushed him back with a huge arm.

"Brother! Calm down. You just met this person, and I don't think having a fit would make the best first impression-"

"I don't care what he thinks of me! This guy needs to be taught a lesson-"

"Excuse me? Did I just hear you refer to me as he?"

"Wh-"

I yanked down my hood, revealing long, dark brown curls and heavily lashed royal purple eyes. He was obviously not looking closely, because you didn't even need to see my face to know that these heeled boots and black skinny jeans belonged to a girl.

My Lord.

"You..youre.."

"YES, half-pint, I am a girl!"

The yellow idiot opened its mouth, to have more offending stupidity flow out of its maw like bile, no doubt. Fortunately, the armor- of obvious intellectual superiority- interrupted the golden gnome's gross wailing before it could even begin.

"Brother- the soldiers are here."

As Fullmetal went to the remains of his coat, a young soldier came to stand in front of me and .

His eyes were full of wonder as he stood in front of us, staring up at the seven foot tall suit of metal. I swear I felt the giddy fanboy admiration radiate off of him. "Wow! You must be the one I've heard so many stories about- the Fullmetal Alchemist!" His irises sparkled with veneration. "You're as good as they say! Thanks so much for the help!"

"Um.. You're welcome, but.. I'm not really the one you should be thanking here.."

Wait.. He's gotta be at least 6'6" to fight in that suit of armor. Late growth spurts aside, he should be pretty much a grown man. So why did he sound like Mason?

"There!" Fullmetal sighed contentedly, breaking my thoughts. "C'mon, Al!" he called, slipping on his newly fixed jacket. "We've got someone to look for, remember?"

So Al's his name?

"Huh. Usually, you want to put off meeting the Colonel as long as possible."

"That's not who I was talking about, although we do have to stop by at that bastard's office first," he sighed, looking disheveled. I felt budding anger at how he addressed Roy- Who does he think he is anyway?!- but that evaporated at his next statement. "But, after we do that, we could go check out if word on the street is true."

"Oh, you mean with the new alchemist?"

I froze at attention, thankfully unnoticed, because I could actually have some fun with this.

"New alchemist?" I echoed, with just the right amount of consideration.

The brothers looked surprised at my input, probably forgetting that I was there.

"Tch, what's it to you, anyway?" the flaxen haired one replied, recovering to annoyance. I just shrugged at the rude response.

"Just curious."

"Not that I really care if you know," he apparently liked to put emphasis on insolence, "but word is there's a 'Fangmetal Alchemist' around here. We came to see if he really exists."

I frowned at him.

"What makes you say they're a 'he'?"

He returned my frown, but only amidst thought.

"Well, it's not very often there's a female alchemist, and when there is there tends to be a lot of women's rights protests- however ephemeral they may be," I do have to admit- he had a point.. "But there is the off chance that the military is keeping it as a secret- a sort of card up their sleeve."

"And that's why we want to meet them, isn't it, brother? Because there's so much mystery around them."

"Well, there's that, and I also hear that they don't use a transmutation circle."

"Just like you and Teacher! And apparently.." Al turned to me, silently asking for my name.

"Bellatra. You're Al, right?"

"Yep! And this is my brother, Edward." Said Edward sat there pouting, and muttered "Did she really have to know my name?"

"(Don't be rude!) Say 'Hi' Edward." Al gave him a rough elbow to the arm.

"(ow!) Hi." He didn't seem to happy, but I think it was just me and didn't have anthing to do with the bruise most likely forming on his arm.

"Hello, Edward. Pleasure to meet you." I gave him a sickly sweet (and obviously sarcastic) sweet smile, and held out my hand.

"Ready to go, Al?" he asked, ignoring my fake olive branch, to which I feigned hurt, placing my hand over my chest.

"Well, if you think it's okay to-"

Suddenly, The Freezing Alchemist threw himself into a puddle, transmuting it into steam, blinding everyone within radius.

"Brother- He's gone!"

"Damn it! Now I'm really pissed!" I rolled my eyes at Edward.

"Yeah, cause that's the only problem here."


	3. Fangmetal, one and only

"Looks like you underestimated your opponent, _Fullmetal."_ the Colonel sneered. Easily irritated, Edward glared at the other side of the room. At Roy's desk, to be specific. " _She_ was there, too! Who even _is_ this Freezer guy, anyway?"

"You'd know that if you paid attention during the briefing- like I told you to."

" _Or_ reviewed the file~~" I sang, swinging my legs back and forth as I sat on Roy's tall desk.

His smirk deepened at my addition, and he continued to jest:

"But _nooOoo._ You _had_ to go charging in, like nobody's business, for an a-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it! Whatever."

This probably wasn't too fun for him. Being humiliated in front of a girl he's trying to one-up, obviously doing the job better than him, might I add.

I looked over at Roy, and he had an 'Oh, really?' look on his face, just for Ed. Deeply contrasting, I caught Riza's eyeroll in the corner of my vision.

" _(Ahem),_ Now then, his name is Isaac McDougal, known back in the day as ' _Isaac the Freezer'._ He's a former State Alchemist-"

"Former?"

During Roy's long sigh, I decided to take over and show that I _actually_ reviewed information, and knew what I was doing. "That's right. He served in the Ishvalan War, and apparently showed no sign of turning traitor. Until he resigned after the war, that is. He immediately resigned his title and went under the radar. It wasn't till extensive investigating that he had been working for the Anti-Establishment Movement ever since then."

"Taking him into custody is top priority," Roy added, nodding in agreement.

"Which means no more fooling around, and do your job."

"Ex _cuse me?_ who says we're not doing our job?"

"I- the person who has been low-key cleaning up after you- am saying that _you,_ the _Fullmetal Alchemist,_ suck at _your_ job."

"Hey, we-"

"Stop saying 'we', Edward, you're the only one with the certification!"

His eyes narrowed at me.

"Yeah, but how do _you_ know that?" I slipped off the desk, and took a step forward with my head cocked to the side.

"While you were fixing your coat- or whatever the hell you were doing back there- A private asked Al if he was the Fullmetal Alchemist, he gestured to you and then said that he wasn't the one to thank. If he _was_ an alchemist, he'd have clarified that he was a _different_ alchemist, just not _Fullmetal."_

"You're pretty perceptive," Ed admitted somewhat reluctantly.

"That's why I'm good at my job. I'm often called into the investigative department." I crossed my arms, and leant back on the mahogany desk.

"That's not the only thing amiss here, I could tell there was something else. He-" I gestured to the armored guy "sounds.. young. Like, _really_ young. He also moves really fast- even if he _was_ superhumanly above the norm in teen height (or height in general I guess), he would've moved a lot slower. I looked closely at the armor, and the metal _has_ to be at least _mostly_ plutonium, according to the tarnished shine. Plutonium is one of the densest metals- it's been argued the heaviest metal. You would need a lot of muscle mass to be able to _support_ that armor (which makes me think it was probably used for decorative purposes), let alone _move_ and _fight_ in it.

"I couldn't think of any logical explanation, until I remembered that you were an alchemist, who doesn't use circles" Edward's face hardened, and Al stared at me more intensely. I swallowed and took a breath. "And I also remembered that you had an _automail prosthetic."_

They both visually tensed, and the air grew thick with anticipation for me to say something. Probably attempt blackmail or something.

Instead, I rolled up my sleeve, and took off my left glove.

"I think I know a thing or two about how that happened."

Edward's eyes widened, and I looked into Al's soul orbs which were wide, as well.

"You're empty, aren't you?"

He gasped, and stared directly at the ground.

"And _just_ who are you?" Fullmetal's voice was low, more of a growl then anything.

"I'm-"

A knock on the door interrupted me, although I'm not sure what I was going to say, anyway.

"Sir? Sorry to interrupt, but I have the dog."

I pushed off the desk, and quickly walked over the door, unable to contain the smile crawling across my features. I yanked the door open, after what seemed like an eternity, seeing Havoc there with a massive canine at his side. He raised an eyebrow, expecting Riza to answer the door, certainly not me to nonchalantly take the leash out of his hand and give a brief, "She has a damn name, Havoc, and you'll get a thank you when you get it right." before I slammed the door in his face.

"(She sure hasn't grown out of the Colonel's temper yet. I'm starting to lose hope.)"

I scowled at Riza's comment, and then turned my attention elsewhere.

Curia, my shepherd wolf mix, sat there staring at me with a rapidly wagging tail. She was squirming, unable to hold still in all the excitement. I knelt down, and held my arms out, and she shoved herself into the hug. She licked the length of my face, as I traced the dark fur outlining her face. She had tan just around her eyes and the top of her snout, and the rest of her head was black. I remember when Mason and I found her following us around as a puppy, I said that it looked like she was wearing a helmet. Mason suggested that, since she was following us around, we might as well name her and take care of her. He suggested it casually, but I knew that he was really excited to have a pet. We decided to name her Curia, based off of the root cura, which means guardian. I scratched her ears, and then stood up.

I turned from the door, to find everyone staring at me.

"What?!"

"You bring a freaking grim in here, and you don't expect us to stare?!"

I smiled at Fullmetal, I liked how he regarded Curia as such an overwhelming beast. that means that he's at least slightly afraid of her, and that could work to my advantage.

She strolled over to him, curious as to who he was. I don't think she's seen a tow-colored blonde before, Havoc is the only blonde she's seen before- but his hair was sand colored. Now that I was looking, Edward did look kind of unusual. He grew his hair so long that he braided it, his eyes were golden, and he wore leather pants for god sakes. What kind of fashion tragedy would think that's a good decision?

Anyways, Edward went rigid as Curia sniffed every inch of him she could reach. When her nose went to his left leg, her bark echoed off the walls, making the alchemist jump and cry out in alarm. "What the hell?!"

"She thinks you have a weapon on you. Do you have a recently cleaned handgun? She probably smells oil," I replied.

He rolled his pantleg up, to show another prosthetic.

"...Huh."

"What?"

I rolled the leg of my pants up, to show my right mechanical leg.

His eyebrows furrowed, and he opened his mouth to-

"ROY! How goes! I hear you let them put you in charge of catching the Freezer, huh? One hell of a nasty assignment! But hey! This could be the 'Big Break' for a promotion you've been waiting for!"

I inhaled sharply.

"Maes?"

"Bea?!" I held up a waving hand, and my oh-so-rare genuine smile (meaning not from some smartass comment or thoughts of Fullmetal's suffering).

"Aw, don't be a stranger, hon' get over here!" He held his arms open, and I accepted the hug with grace. Curia had grown bored with the brothers, ans walked over too. She barked once in excitement, and Maes released me and patted her head.

"Hey, girl! How ya been?" The dog could've been a puppy with the look on her face.

I noticed Edward watching me curiously, he still didn't really know who I was. I raised my eyebrows at him. He scoffed in response.

Coming to attention at the noise, Hughes turned to the brothers.

"Looks like I came just in time! Say, you're the Elric brothers, right?"

"Oh, yeah. We...?" The answer trailed off hesitantly, when Edward saw Maes stroll up to Alphonse.

"Oh wow, you must be the Fullmetal Alchemst-!"

He was interrupted by my sputtering laugh, as I pointed to Edward. "Wrong one!"

"You mean that this-"

" **Go ahead. Say little guy, I dare you.** "

Fullmetal's growled threat was dulled down by my (failed) attempt to stifle a giggle.

" _Who even are you?!_ "

I didn't say anything, or change my expression.  
I just winked.  
This made him explode with unbridled rage.

"GAH! DOES NO ONE WANT TO GIVE ME ANSWERS?!"

"Sure, I'll give you answers. Just ask the right questions," I barely know this boy, and it's already so _fun_ to piss him off.

He took a deep breath, and I could see the steam coming out of his ears.

"How are you associated with the military." he demanded, trying to rein his anger back in.

I slipped my State Alchemist watch out of my pocket, and whirled the chain around my fingers with flare.

"Same as you, _Fullmetal."_

"You're a Sate Alchemist?" Al spoke up. I caught the watch on it's next turn, absorbing the momentum.

"Fangmetal, one and only." I gave another wink, but this one to the other Elric brother.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Edward scoffed, like I was some peasant beneath him. At this I walked over, bending over him and putting my hands to my hips.

" _ **Excuse me kid,**_ but it's considered **rude to** _ **mumble.**_ _"_

It opens its mouth once again to attempt a reply, but Roy interferes.

" _ **Bellatra**_ ," he starts off as a warning telling me to back off, "is my adopted daughter."

"... **** **W** _ **HAT?!**_ "

"Bellatra- _you're his daughter?!"_ The younger Elric is _much_ more quiet.

"We thought it would make the paperwork easier for me to get into the military," I shrugged. "But they like to keep it hush-hush for under cover operations, so I wouldn't go gabbing if I were you," I held my finger to my lips.

"Wait- If it was secret, then why did you tell us?!" Edward asked, making gestures with his open hands in front of him.

"Because I know I can trust you to keep _my_ secret," I hopped up on the desk, this time crossing my legs, "for keeping _yours._ Equivalent exchange, right?"

"This is hardly equivalent! The secret you know is way worse!"

"I don't think you realize how much damage it would actually do."

I didn't feel like explaining this all right now, so I changed the subject.

"So, you guys have a place to stay here?" I spared Hughes a quick side glance, and Roy too- only he knew what I was up to, and looked mildly disappointed and amused at the same time.

"Ah- no, we should probably book a hote-"

" **I don't think so. Come with me.** "


	4. Second First Impressions

" **I don't think so. Come with me.** " Maes pushed his glasses up, creating an ephemeral glare on them, he looked intimidating until-

"My wife and daughter would _love_ to have you!"

I couldn't help but smile in triumph as the Elrics' faces fell in disbelief at the pictures shoved into their faces.

"You can come, too Bea- you know Alicia _loves_ you!"

My mouth fell wide open as I choked on my laughter.

Well, that backfired.

"I doubt she even remembers me-"

"Nonsense! Even if she doesn't, she gets to meet you _all over again!_ "

"Look, I would love to go, I really would-"

Ed interrupted me with "lie" sandwiched between coughs, earning a glare from me " _-but,_ I'm afraid I have responsibilities. I can't leave all the chores to Roy- _you_ know how much of a procrastinator he is~" I sang.

The man in question's mouth fell open, and his brow furrowed slightly. I could tell _exactly_ what he was thinking.

 _You little brat! How_ dare _you throw me under the bus!_

Suddenly, victims beware, he put on a mischievous grin.

"You've been on missions before, gone for weeks. I _think_ can handle one night without you."

Ha! So he wants to play it _that_ way!

"Yeah, I've left for missions, but when I come back the apartment is in _turmoil!_ Hate to break it to ya, _daddy-dearest,_ but you're never exactly on top of things." None of that was a lie- well, except the fact I didn't hate breaking it to him, because his eyebrow was twitching in annoyance.

"Don't be a little shit, and go to the Hughes' house. They obviously want you there."

"Ouch, my heart!" I feigned hurt with my hand over my chest.

"Get out!" I don't know what he threw at me, but I managed to dodge the form from out of the corner of my eye, and slid off the desk.

"Ok, ok! I'll go get my stuff!"

* * *

"I understand you wanted _her_ here," Ed gestured to me, "But did she have to bring the beast?"

"Nonsense! Curia is just as much a part of the family as Bellatra is."

Maes pushed up his glasses, and turned to the door. I stuck my tongue out at Edward as he unlocked it. Immediately after he opened the door-

"Daddy! Daddy!"

I couldn't help the tender smile that crept into my face when Maes swooped the little girl up into his arms, and planted a kiss onto the tip of her nose.

"Hi, Princess! Guess what? We have guests!"

"..Guests..?"

She looked up at the three of us, very bewildered with our appearance. She seemed pretty confused, but any doubts or questions melted away as Curia took the liberty to trot over to her. She poked Alicia in the side of her face with her snout, and snorted at her. This made Alicia laugh, and she gently hugged the canine around her neck.

"Nice doggy."

" _Tch,_ more like _hellhound."_ Ed scoffed.

I turned to him, and glared.

" _My_ bite is worse than _hers._ "

* * *

Alicia seemed to be shy at first, hugging her mother's leg.

"Alicia, this is Bella. Do you remember her?"

She shook her head, and burrowed into her mom's leg even further.

I crouched down so that we could make proper eye contact.

"I first met you a _long_ time ago. When you were just a baby." She seemed surprised at that. "How old are you now?"

Alicia stepped out from behind her mother, and proudly held up four fingers.

"Wow," I gawked, "Your getting big! Soon you'll be bigger than me!"

She giggled, and walked closer to me.

"Wanna see my room?"

Taking me by the hand, she lead me up the stairs to some room in the left. When she opened the door, it revealed a tiny bed buried under stuffed animals against the center of the wall.

"This is where I sleep!" She threw herself into the mound of colorful animals, delighted in the chuckle I gave in response.

I looked over to the miniature desk on the left wall, and the mirror beside it. She had a few figurines there, ranging from unicorns and princesses to cats and mermaids.

I turned back to Alicia.

"You have a lot of stuffed animals here, Alicia. Do you have names for them?"

She slid quickly off the bed, and took her animals off one by one, naming them all. I could feel my face soften, this is what I had wanted for my little brother, Mason.

I wanted him to have a small-room-too-many-toys life, a got-so-many-action-figures-you wouldn't-even-believe life, a do-you-collect-trading-cards-because-I've-got-some-you-can-have life. But he got a beggar's life instead.

"Bella, Alicia! Dinner's ready!" Gracia called upstairs.

After dinner, we we lounged in the living room. Maes sat on the loveseat with a casual arm around his wife, who cuddled into his side. Ed sat on the couch across from them, leaning back on the cushion, with Alphonse hunched over on the other side. I, on the other hand, was sitting in front of the armchair near the fireplace, using the foreface of it for back support while Curia layed on her side next to me. Alicia sat in the middle of all of us, playing with toy blocks and trains.

While Alicia played, the others talked, but I kept silence while thinking about.. _other things._

Dinner. I noticed Alphonse barely touched a thing, occasionally tossing a piece of bread under the helmet when the Hughes were looking. That's when I realized it, the reason he didn't eat wasn't because he didn't _want_ to-

It was because he _couldn't._

He didn't have any organs or systems. That meant he couldn't eat, or sleep, or bleed- or even _breathe._ It's a tough life to live, but it's a life.

"Bella..?"

I looked up from my thoughts into round, green eyes that looked an awful lot like Gracia's.

"Yes, Alicia?" I chimed.

"What's in the bag?"

She glanced over at my satchel, black with a pointed flap, a trim of purple at the edge.

"Stuff...for drawing..."

"Ooh! Can I draw something?"

I smiled another one of my genuine smiles (the Hughes seemed to bring that out in me).

"Of course."

I leaned over to my bag, and took out my sketchbook as well as a couple pencils. I handed her the sketchbook, then noticed how Alphonse was looking over here watching us. I wonder if he was bored with the conversation? For whatever reason he was staring at me, I felt unsettled being the center of his attention.

I raised up a tentative hand and gave a little wave. Then something weird happened, the glowing orbs in his helmet (showing his soul's presence in the armor I presume) changed shape. The weird part is that I could tell it was him smiling, not to mention the fact I couldn't help but smile back.

"Woah!"

I turned to Alicia, who held my first sketch up to Maes and Gracia (of course Edward had scooted over to see it too).

They all gawked at my pencil sketch of Curia- looking from the pencil sketch, to Curia, to me, and then back to the sketch.

I could feel my face heat up as I twirled a short lock of hair around my fingers, while covering my face.

I didn't mind people looking at my art, but I didn't like being the center of attention.

"You're a fan of dogs, aren't you?"

Alphonse had apparently got up and looked, too. He was still hunched over the sketchbook as the Hughes flipped through the pages, Alicia in his lap.

"U-Uh, yeah."

"What about cats?"

""Really? Again with the cats Al?"

"I'm just asking a question! Have you drawn any cats?"

"N-No, not yet. I suppose I could try it, though.." I began nervously drumming my fingers on my leg, but nobody noticed.

Except Maes.

"Hey, it's getting late. We should all get to bed."

I silently thanked him for his observance, and got my things, leading the way for Alicia's room, as the boys went to the guest room.

* * *

 _I slowly advanced toward the light, my eye trained on the small figure shrouded in darkness._

 _"..Hello..?"_

 _The figure looked up as a blinding white flash changed our surroundings into a blanched void, now letting me see the person clearly._

 _"Mason-!"_ _I took a step forward, reaching for him, but he stepped back._

 _"You could have saved me."_

 _"Mase, please-"_

 _"You could have brought me back."_

 _"I tried to, I tried to bring you back, but I couldn't-"_

 _"_ _ **NO!**_ _"_

 _He cut off my rambling with one word, and we stood there in silence. I was trembling, afraid of what he was about to say._

 _"I was your brother._ ** _Your little brother. I WOULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING FOR YOU!_** **I GAVE MY LIFE!"**

 _I felt the tears flow out of my eyes as I collapsed to the ground as he continued to shriek at me._

 _"_ _ **FOR YOU!**_ _"_

 _Scratches began to appear from all over his body, his baggy shirt became raggedy and torn showing the blood drip down his form._ _I wrapped my arms around my head, silently pleading for it all to stop._

 _"Look at me."_

 _I could hear blood pour out of his body before I saw it defining the actual groundline._

 _"_ _ **Look at me.**_ _"_

 _I was now shaking with such impossible extremity that it felt like I was having a seizure._

 _"_ _ **LOOK AT ME.**_ _"_

 _He seized my clothes with gnarling fingers for my attention. My unwilling head slowly traveled upwards, greeted with a gruesome sight._

 _"_ _ **Look at what you did.**_ _"_

 _My hands flew to my mouth as chunks of flesh and muscle melted from his body. His eyes went glassy, to the extent you couldn't tell they were Ishvalan. His body melted and broke a part, until he was the bleeding, reaching torso I last saw him as._

 _His hand flew to my neck as he yanked me close._

 _ **"You're next."**_

* * *

I jerked awake with a start, putting my hand around my neck to make sure his hand wasn't still there. My heart was racing and I was drenched in sweat and tears. I tried to quiet my breath so I didn't wake Alicia, who by the way was sleeping like a baby.

I got up from my bed of blankets and headed quietly down the hall. Tip-toeing past the bedroom doors, I entered the bathroom.

I closed the door and began to splash water on my face.

This wasn't irregular, in fact, it's the usual. I have nightmares about my little brother just about every night. Despite this being the norm, it still left me shaken.

I leant over the sink, taking a look at the bags under my eyes. I sighed at my reflection and looked at the time.

3:42 A.M.

 _Sweet Ishvala,_ why is it so _early?_


End file.
